Method

1 Salt the roast and let sit at room temp: The beef should be brought to close to room temperature before you start to roast it so that it cooks more evenly. So, remove it from the refrigerator at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before cooking. Open the wrapping, sprinkle all sides with salt, and wrap it up again.

2 Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).

3 Insert slivers of garlic into the roast: Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Use the tip of a sharp knife to make 8 to 10 small incisions around the roast. Put a sliver of garlic into each cut.

4 Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper: Rub olive oil all over the roast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5 Place roast on rack, fat side up, with pan to catch drippings below: Place the roast directly on the middle oven rack, fatty side up, with a roasting pan to catch the drippings on the rack beneath it.

Placing the roast directly on the rack like this with a pan on the rack below creates a convection type environment in the oven, allowing the hot air to more easily circulate around the roast, so you don't have to turn the roast as it cooks.

Place the roast fat-side up so that as the fat melts it bathes the entire roast in flavor.

6 Roast initially at 375°F, then lower the heat to 225°F: Cook the roast initially at 375°F (190°C) for half an hour, to brown it. Then lower the heat to 225°F (107°C). The roast should take somewhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours additionally to cook.

The shape of the roast will affect the cooking time. If your roast is long and narrow, rather than a more round shape, it may take less time to cook, so keep an eye on it.

7 Remove roast when internal temp reaches 135°F to 140°F: When juices start to drip from the roast, and it is browned on the outside, check the roast's internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Remove the roast from the oven when the internal temperature of the roast is 135° to 140°F (57°C to 60°C).

8 Tent with foil and let rest before cutting: Place the roast on a cutting board and tent it with aluminum foil to keep it warm. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before cutting. Thinly slice the roast to serve. (Resting the cooked roast is important. If you cut into it too soon, the roast will lose more of its juices.)

To make the gravy: Remove the dripping pan from the oven and place on the stove top at medium heat. Note that if you are pulling the roast out early, for rare or a medium rare level of doneness, you may not have a lot of drippings. Hopefully you will have some. If not, you may want to leave the roast in a little longer at even lower heat, 175°F, to ease some more drippings out of it.

Add some water, red wine, or beef stock to the drippings to deglaze (loosen the drippings from the pan). Dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in a little water and add to the drip pan. Stir quickly while the gravy thickens to avoid lumping.

You can add a little butter if there is not a lot of fat in the drippings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mom adds some fresh thyme too if she has some. (See also How to Make Gravy.)

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The reason to start a roast low and then go high is to control the amount of sear on the roast’s exterior. If you start low and roast to about 5 degrees below your desired done temp. and then increase the temp. to 375 or even 400 you get to control the outer crispness to your liking without affecting the interior temp that much.

If you start high and then go low it’s much more difficult to control the crispness, because it will continue get crispier.

Great receipe. The only thing I do differently is a start the roast low on 250-275 and about 10-15 minutes before it is done I crank up wth oven to 350-375 to brown/carmalize it more. I even sometimes turn it to broil. I find it renders the fat better that way (more juices for gravy) and the exterior of the meat has more of a bark/crispier texture. Basically, a reverse sear method.

Love reverse sear method and follow Serious Eats. Tonight I need to get it done quickly so seared in a hot cast iron pan and then transferred to a 350 oven to roast. Will take it out at 130 degrees because we like medium rare, but will tent for 20 minutes or so.

The trick to making a great roast beef is to view it as two products — the roast, and the bark.

All roasting methods involve two cooking processes — one for the bark and one for the roast. The roast itself doesn’t mind if the bark is done first or last but a better product can be created by doing it last for three reasons. Firstly, a very low heat will ensure you get an even medium rare throughout the roast. Placing a pan of water on the floor of the oven will ensure it doesn’t dry out. You are just trying to cook the centre to medium rare and shouldn’t worry about what it looks like at this point. When it is within a few degrees of your desired temp you should start on the second product — the crust. You can either burn this on in a super hot oven or even take it out and sear it on top of the stove.

The point is to view the roast as a roast, and separately as a crust. Two separate products.

I have to say every recipe I try of yours turns out to be my new favorite meal. Whenever someone compliments me after cooking I always say don’t thank me, thank Elise! THIS roast is now my new favorite. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your service to the cooking community and your easy to follow and simple recipes that are always packed with flavor. I will forever refer your website to friends. Xo

Elise, I have to tell you, whenever I need the answer you’ve always got it. This roast turned out great. I wasn’t quite brave enough to put it directly on the oven rack, I put it on a rack in the roasting pan and it was fine. Do make an effort to tie the roast up into an even shape as possible. Inevitably one end will still cook a little faster than the other. I saved the really rare piece for roast beef sandwiches the next day – perfect!

Made this yesterday…it had great flavor and the gravy was perfect but the meat itself was pretty chewy. Slicing it thin helped, but based on the comments, I was expecting it to be tender…maybe it was my particular rump roast, but it looked almost exactly like the photo. Might try it again with a different cut or searing it in a pan first and then cooking it low.

This is fabulous! A cheaper cut of meat being so tender is a dream come true, the flavor is superb! I served it with green beans, salad and mashed potatoes and drizzled the beef juice on top ! Soooo Good..

Fantastic, my sirloin tip tasted like prime rib, everyone raved about it. Served it with roasted baby potatoes and carrots, yorkshire puddings, roast gravy and a kale salad. Delicious, will be making over and over! Thank you!

Hi Mary, probably an additional 1/2 hour to hour from the times given here. It really all depends on how cold your roast is going in, the shape of your roast, and your particular oven, which is why it is so essential to use a meat thermometer.

I am going to try this recipe tonight for dinner. What I am wondering though is how do you cook your roast veggies. In the past I have cooked roast veggies in the oven (on a different rack) at the same time as the meat. How can you get delicious roast veggies when the meat is cooked at such a low temperature?

Hi Yvonne, I think you could put the vegetables in a tray on a lower rack with about an hour left to go on the slow and low cooking, then crank up the heat to finish roasting them after you’ve taken the roast out of the oven and you are letting it rest.

I’m wondering if anyone tried braising the meet in a fry pan first on all sides and then putting in the oven.. I do that with my pot roast.. Just curious if that makes a difference or if even recommended.
I’m going to try the recipe this weekend for a party of 10.
thanks

Hi Marisa, I would roast two 4 pound roasts. Leave some room between them in the oven. Make sure you let them sit out for at least 2 hours at room temp (70°F) so they get closer to room temp before cooking. They will take longer to cook, and longer to brown. Either start the heat out higher, or cook them at the given starting temp longer.

This roast came out way too rare for me…and I usually order meat medium rare. (meat thermometer read 135 and never moved higher) It WAS tasty, and after I stuck it back in the oven for 1/2 hour at a higher temp (even the already sliced pieces) it was STILL tasty and moist. I have a gas oven and I suspect it didn’t kick on as it should at 225…so will up it a bit when I use this easy recipe again. Or maybe the roast was bigger than I thought. Gravy was easy and tasty and will definitely try again!

I’ve been using this recipe now for 2 years, with great success! My family loves it. I am a man who will eat almost anything, but my family seems to have inherited very picky eating habits from my wife’s side of the family. Still, this is always well received and often commented on as a family favorite. The one modification I have made to the recipe is adding more herbs. I put rosemary, sage, garlic powder and a little sweet Hungarian paprika into the salt-and-pepper dry-rub, and most significantly I add a sprig of fresh rosemary with each garlic wedge that I insert into the cuts in the meat. But the basics are the same. Thanks for a great way to roast a beaf and feed a family!

Thank you so much for this recipe! I am, so I am told, a good cook but I have never been able to cook a tender roast. This one turned out fantastic and I received so many compliments. I will definitely use this recipe from now on.
Thanks again!

I’d make it the same but since 1.5 lbs is a small roast maybe cut the time it spends at high temp to 20-25 min, then just cook to your desired temp at the lower heat.

I have a method i’ve been using for years to cook eye of round roasts ( i assume that’s the same thing as a inside round roast, just a different name. This recipe is for a rump roast which can also be called a bottom round roast, the same cuts of meat will have different names depending on where you buy them.) The method i’ve used to cook it is you preheat the oven to 500, then put the roast in turn it down to 450 and cook for 7 min a pound. Then turn the oven off and leave the roast in the oven and keep the oven door shut. By the time the oven cools down the roast will be done. Here is a link to the recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/High-Temperature-Eye-of-Round-Roast/

This turned out perfect, I was in a bit of a time crunch so I turned the cooking time to 240, could not believe how tender and juicy it was. My gravy turned out perfect as well, though I only seasoned with pepper and salt. Reminded me of childhood. Than you!

Finally, a great roast beef! I had a 3 lb bottom round roast from Whole Foods that was just too expensive and nice looking to use for Pot Roast. I followed your instructions to the letter. It was done to perfection (I like mine medium rare) in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Delicious. I even managed to eek out gravy. I have an instant read thermometer and It read 135 degreesin the middle of the roast. It continued cooking out of the oven to 138 degrees. Delicious.

To all; never cook a roast with time always use a meat thermometer, the time should be used only as a guide! For medium rare 135, for medium 145 for well done 155. The proper way is medium rare, but some may not like it. I always cook mine at 140 and always leave the meat rest minimum 20 to 30 minutes, the internal temperature Will rise another 10 degrees will resting and will be jucier

Elise, I loved this recipe. It brings back memories of some fabulous dinners. Thanks for such a great blog. I keep coming back to it.
By the way, the link to the meat thermometer is broken. (I thought you might want to know).

Simply delicious. It was necessary to finish in at an oven temperature of 270F as I have a family that won’t touch pink beef, but the meat cooked as per the recipe was superb (it was 144F and very nice). Salt + fat + roasting = heaven.

Happened to see this recipe just before finding a rump roast on sale. This was delicious! So much easier and just as wonderful as our other roast beef recipe. The gravy was also excellent. I think we just decided what Christmas dinner will be!

Hi Linda, a solid roast is pretty sterile beneath the surface. The issue is when you introduce air into the meat through grinding into hamburger. The surface of the roast may be exposed to bacteria, but the cooking of the meat will kill them. I forget which famous chef once quipped, “Any bacteria that can survive a hot oven for two hours deserves to live.”

it doesnt matter what kind of roast you buy…its the way its cooked that makes it tender… for myself i dont like raw meat i want well done… i either use my crockpot or my pressure cooker..they come in stove top or electric nowadays… they arent the canning pressure cookers just lessen cooking times and tenderize the meat… i used to make a roast dinner for my husband and i before i went to work… and so he had only to heat his dinner when he got home from work and i took my dinner to work with me… since i lost my husband i buy a roast and cut it in half and cook it… those roast that are packaged two in package make me from four to five different meals…i freeze the other pieces of meat for other meals and i have left overs to make into a soup… it makes the food dollars go further and we all could use that nowadays…

Hi there! I found this recipe after doing a search, and decided to try it out. It turned out Amazing! This is probably now one of my top dishes I’ve made, and cannot wait to make it again. Even my husband, who is a self acclaimed food snob, loved it!

I cooked the meat to about 140 degrees, and had enough fat to make Yorkshire puddings after… and there was still enough drippings and cooked on stuff to make a fantastic light gravy.

Excellent recipe! My family absolutely loved it. We made it with onion powder instead of garlic cloves, but love the two temperature cooking method to have it nicely browned, but also wonderfully tender. Thanks so much!

I purchased a 4.5lb Beef Top Sirloin Steak Roast. Can I apply this same recipe to this cut/size of meat? Thanks in advance!

You can, but it’s not necessary. This method is for a tougher cut of meat that needs the slow and low cooking. With a top sirloin you can cook it the way we cook prime rib. Start it at a high heat to brown, then drop to 325°F to finish. That will develop more flavor and more pan juices. If you want your roast to be medium rare throughout though, you can do it at the lower temperature, that will ensure a more even cooking. ~Elise

Hi, i have bought a 2.120kg joint of topside/toprump for Christmas day as were not turkey lovers. i’m not very good at roasting beef so am going to try this recipe my question is what will be the overall cooking time please, i have bought a meat themometer just for this.

I don’t know. It all depends on the shape of the roast and your particular oven. 2.1 Kg equals about 4.6 pounds. An extra pound from the recipe given may take it an extra 15 or 20 minutes to cook at that low temperature. I would start checking at 1 hour 40 minutes after the initial high temperature browning. ~Elise

TERIFFIC recipe !!!! My family & I do not really care for turkey for Thanksgiving & usually have chicken in lieu thereof.
This year, we chose your roast beef recipe & ALL were very happy !!!
I usually use ‘rump’ as a pot roast; will think differently from now on : )))
Happy Holidays !!!!

Thank you for such a simple recipe! I made roast beef for the first time and it turned out tasty! I used coarse salt , fresh pepper, olive oil, slivers of garlic and fresh rosemary. I roasted my 3 lb. Beef for 25 mins at 400C and then lowered the temp to 275C for 75 mins (25 mins for every pound) and it turned out perfectly medium. The only thing is that I didn’t have much of drippings…my round cut didn’t have much fat on it. But that’s ok, I had a gravy mix on hand. The roast was very moist and tender. Thanks again!

My roast was very lean this time and so I laid a few strips of bacon over it. I also spread roasted garlic jelly over the roast when I turned down the heat. Turned out great and the jelly really flavoured the gravy!

Thanks for this great roast recipe Elise, my mom always made the roast beef and mashed potatoes, but everyone in the family said they enjoyed this recipe more! My oven must be a little fast as my 3.7lb roast was done right around 2 hrs and didn’t let off much juice, so I just added some beef boullion to the gravy- which was still fantastic, but the roast was juicy, and tender!! Will prepare it this way from now on!

I realize that I am responding to a post that is over three years old but maybe, like me, you are just now reading this.
There is no such thing as a “bone-in” rump roast. The rump is the tip part of the bottom round. The whole bottom round is a large boneless piece of meat.

Outstanding recipe! I wanted roast beef for a party and tried this as my first-ever roast beef. I used a 10 pound sirloin tip, adjusted the time accordingly and used a constant-monitor thermometer and pulled it out at 132 as we like our beef RARE! It was perfect! Since it was a party we had planned all along to thin slice it for sandwiches (on kaiser rolls, excellent, especially with a bit of horse radish) I love to cook but my specialities are Cuban and Cajun..had never tried this before and was extremely pleased with the results. Tender, juicy and loaded with flavor! My wife was, once again, amazed at my cooking abilities! That, by the way, is the secret to a wonderful 35 year marriage: good cooking by the husband! Thanks for taking me into our 36th year!

I found this recipe about 20 roasts ago, I never have used garlic and it turns out great everytime. My family sets their schedules around me making this recipe. I should have thanked you a couple years ago but didnt, so now I am, thanks so much. One more thing i have used this very recipe on any all different kinds of roast and it always turns out great. Keep the great going.

Mmmm, yeah, this was really good. I used a small sirloin tip roast and removed it from the oven when it reached 138 degrees. This made for a very tender medium-rare roast – pink throughout but not transluscent. Maybe a bit rare for some people but we thought it was perfect.

Made this last night for an early-Christmas dinner. I actually cooked 3 roasts of about 3-1/4 lbs. each, positioning them over my largest roasting rack. I have one of those probe thermometers with a wire that connects to an external thermostat, so I can watch the meat’s progress without having to open the oven. I took the roasts out of the oven at 135 degrees F, and the meat was perfectly pink and juicy, yet with a few slices that were more “done” to suit those who don’t like to see any pink. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. Thank you for a wonderful, foolproof roasting recipe!

This is the absolute best roast recipe I have ever made. Rump roast can be tough but this recipe resulted in a tender, flavorful outcome. I am making it for the second time in two weeks. My family is begging for it! In response to the message above, I highly recommend going to a Wegmans or Whole Foods and spending a little extra for grass fed beef. I believe it made all the difference in the texture. Try it again…..I think you will be glad you did.

I used about a 2.7 lb rump roast. 375 for 30 mins then it was at 225 for 90 mins to get a medium well temp of 150. It was ok. Not dried out, so that was good but I don’t think I got the same results as others based on the rave reviews. Mine was still kind of tough. Any suggestions? I’d really like to make a good roast beef! (By the way, have tried many other recipes from your site and almost always LOVE them!!) Thanks

Fantastic recipe! I roasted c. 2 lbs of bottom round until 140 degrees and it came out beautifully pink, juicy, and tender while the outside is gorgeously browned. I love garlic so I used several cloves. Rubbed the roast with sea salt and freshly crushed pepper – yum.

I did not put the roast directly on the oven rack though, but used a pan with rack. I added some water in the bottom of the pan to create a moist environment.

I enjoy roast beef with scalloped potatoes so I skipped the gravy. And the leftovers will make lovely sandwiches. :O)

I am Making this recipe and it smells amazing, I stuffed the roast with garlic and thyme and added a small bunch or rosemary on top, some coarse salt and whit pepper. as for the stock I made a mushroom stock which Ill be incorporating red wine and ofcourse the drippings……mmmm.mmmm.mmmm cant wait!!! thx for the recipe!!

You are so right Elise, when you say that the cut of beef best for roasting is something like a sirloin or prime cuts. These need a hot oven and a quick amount of time.

Other less prime cuts that tend to be tougher – if you think where the cut of meat comes from on the animal, this will give you a good idea of whether it is likely to be tough or not, for instance the shoulder part which does a lot of moving and weight bearing will be a tougher piece for eating. This meat benefits from long, slow cooking at a lower temperature, allowing the meat to gently cook and soften.

Thank you so much Elise,
I decided to wait until today to cook the beef, and I took a second look at the label and I was incorrect as to the cut of beef. It was actually a choice bottom round cut. I am still going to use a variation of this recipe, however, and we’ll see how it goes! Thanks for all of your help!

Hey Elise,
I am getting ready to cook two 2lb boneless rump roasts right now, and I would like to know how I should change your recipe to fit my cuts of meat? Should I cook the meat for a shorter amount of time? or lower the temperature? Thank you for your help!

Hi Zach, only two pounds each? Hmm. I would try doing the higher temp for 20 minutes, then lowering the temperature and cooking it for 1 1/2 hours. But really the best thing to do is to test with a thermometer well before you think the roasts should be done, and gauge from there. ~Elise

Superb. I come from a fast cook style at home and beef wasn’t served very often. I decided to bite the bullet and try to cook roast beef. I went into heavy – 2Kg Sirloin. Beautiful meat. I cooked it for about 2:45 and it was about 130 but when I did a test slice it was seriously red. A bit much. So I did it for another hour and it was fantastic. Beautifully pink inside and tasted superb. I did the gravy as well and that needed a bit of work. But overall with perfectly cooked roast potatoes and steamed baby carrots it worked really well. Best of all for me was the total control over the salt content as I am on a lo-salt diet. I cut the salt way down and in some cases removed it – different taste but it does work if you eat everything an don’t want to keep anything. There was less salt in my whole meal than in half a small fries from macdonalds! My only problem is that I am on a lo-protein diet as well so this is complete blow-out for me!

Overall this recipe goes into my collection of classic recipes which are lo-salt.

Hi! Love this site. I made this roast last night. I followed everything exactly. 3 1/2 pounder.

I pulled this out at 140 degrees, and let it rest for 15 minutes.

It was medium rare.

Now you say 140 degrees, but the gravy part says if you pull it out early when it is rare you may not have many drippings—so my question is…..my meat thermometer says that 140 degrees for beef is medium rare. What does your say? Could mine be culinaryily incorrect? We could not eat it that rare. But i am afraid to leave it in longer the next time and it will get overdone.

Thanks alot! I love these recipes and to hear about your family.

Hi Olivia, here’s an article on the Wikipedia for meat temperature. The good thing about pulling out a roast and it isn’t done enough for your taste is that you can always cook it longer, or even put it in the microwave. If you over-cook it to start with, you can’t go back. I love rare meat, so I try to error on the rare side. ~Elise

Just made this today with a 5.25lb bottom round. Came out perfectly after 3.5 hours. Was perfectly pink & juicy throughout the entire roast and very flavorful. My husband loves Arby’s roast beef sandwiches. At nearly $5 for the big sandwiches, that adds up. Bought the entire roast at Sam’s club for $13 that will make plenty more sandwiches. Thanks for the great recipe.

This recipe was AMAZING. It makes me think that I can actually cook! I didn’t have a meat thermometer so I had to go on intuition, but it came out perfect both times I made it. The flavor was delicious, the meat tender, and my entire family loved it. Thanks for the great recipes!

I should have commented on this months ago. This, recipe has becomne a Sunday dinner staple. I make it at least once a month. We LOVE it! Thank you so much for posting it, and your mom sure knows her meat!

No offense intended, but this was a disappointment – a very dull and flavorless meal. If I tried it again I’d have to change it so much that it wouldn be an entirely different recipe, just ideas to get my juices flowing.

Then again, I use alot of garlic, and pepper and fresh herbs when I cook. So my taste buds are usually primed for something more, maybe that’s the difference.

If I were less of a beef roast junkie, I’m sure I’d rate this much more favorably, since it is really easy to prepare. Thanks for the post!

I did something wrong. I followed the recipe exactly but even though the meat thermometer read 145 degrees, the inside was bordering on medium well. It was dry and I was disappointed. Not sure what I did.

I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! My hubby loves beef and restaurants are waaay too expensive for us now. I am not one anyone would describe as a good cook, but I’ve made this twice and it is virtually impossible for me to mess this up! :)

Hi, I’m planning on making this for dinner. Now that I’m look at the recipe and have a quick question for you. Do you peel the garlic before put it in or leave it unpeeled? I’m looking forward to a yummy dinner. Thanks

Never made a roast before but using this recipe for Christmas dinner was so easy and foolproof. I used inside round cut (not a lot of marbling) but the roast came out SO SO TENDER and MOIST. Will definitely add to my recipe collection.

I just tried this today and it was perfect! Medium in the center and little more done on the ends. This is was my first roast and all were impressed with the taste. I’m curious how this might turn out if tried the convection funtion.
Many thanks!

Made this last Sunday (without the garlic slivers)–YOWZA, it was dee-lish. The roast beef of my childhood was rump roast, but it always had that band of overcooked meat around the edge, even it it was nice and pink in the middle. (sorry, Mom, love ya anyway). This roast was deep pink–rare to medium rare–all the way to the edge, even on the little pointy part. My husband, who thinks roast beef needs to be boneless rib roast to be good–raved about it and requested it this weekend!
Thanks so much for a great method! The only think I did differently was that I put a roasting rack on top of the oven rack, cuz my oven isn’t the cleanest (blush) and I really felt weird about putting the meat directly on the oven rack.

I bought a package containing two pot roasts for 1.79/lb. My hubby doesn’t like pot roast, and we rarely eat beef anymore, so I was hoping to get a good oven roast recipe. I found this recipe, and decided to give it a shot. I prepared the smaller of the two roasts. I weighed it on a postage scale, and it was under three lbs. I prepared it as written. I inserted a meat thermometer when I put it in the oven so that it wouldn’t overcook. I took it out when the thermometer read 145 degrees. It was by far the best roast beef I’ve ever tasted. I made it rare and put a couple of slices in the microwave for my hubby because he likes his meat medium to well done. He loved it, too. I’m going to make the other roast when my daughter comes for a visit later this month. I would give it five+ stars if you had a star system.

This is by far the best roast I have ever made. I will admit, I was very leary with cooking a rump roast. (All other efforts have been epic failures). I followed the directions exactly, and the end result was a perfectly tender, juicy, melt in your mouth roast! I couldn’t believe such a lean piece of meat could turn out this great. I removed my roast from the oven when it reached an internal temperature of 140 degrees. It was evenly pink throughout, even the end pieces were fabulous! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I’ll be using this recipe for many years to come and will definitely pass it on to my children. It helps to be able to make a tasty meal out of a less expensive cut of beef, especially in these hard econimical times. Thanks again!

I made this recipe tonight and sadly it was a bust. I didnt consider myself a beginning cook but after tonight Im not sure. I followed the recipe exactly. I had a 3 1/2lb. sirloin tip roast, took it out an hour before I prepped it. Oven thermometer pegged at 375 for a half hour browning. And it went down hill from there…Meat never browned, after 2 hours 15 minutes at 225 and with oven digital thermometer inside temp was 119. After the 3rd hour the temp moved up to 132 so I took it out and tented it with foil while I made the gravy. What little drippings did make it into the pan dried up and the gravy tasted bitter and awful. When the gravy bombed out, I made my own gravy with some homemade beef stock (love to make my own stocks!) sauteed leeks and garlic. I whipped that with a hand blender, added a bit of cream and cornstarch. When I was happy with that I decided it was time to carve and let my husband do the honors. The minute he pulled the thermometer out of the meat it literally GUSHED red blood onto the bottom of the carving platter. I have NEVER seen a cut of meat do that before! The two end pieces were barely med-rare while the rest was less then rare. It was all tough and dry but thank god for the gravy, everyone raved about that, lol. Not sure what I did wrong. Was it the cut of meat? Should I have removed the trussing? Was the oven temp too low? Should I have not used an oven thermometer inside the oven in the meat? The recipe sounded so great and I was looking for something simpler then I found on Food Network. Would love to try this recipe again, so if anyone can clue me into what I did wrong I’d be most appreciative!

I don’t quite understand what you mean when placing the meat directly on the oven rack. Are you saying put the meat on an oven rack and a drip pan on a rack underneath? Or are you supposed to use one the of the drip pan things? And how far from the top of the oven should I have the meat?

My mother places the roast directly on an oven rack in the oven, and puts a drip pan on a rack below it. This way you get much more heat circulating around the roast. Place the roast in the oven so that it is centered in the oven. This will give you the most even heat. ~Elise

I tried this recipe on Sunday and it was a major hit here, and the fact that my father-in-law is a chef makes it difficult to impress my hubby. Thank you so much, this will definitely be a regular dinner item here.

I am not a new bride by any means. This was the very best recipe for cooking a bargain beef roast that I have come across. I followed your recipe to the letter and my rump roast was as juicy and tender(cut across the grain as you suggested) as a cut of very expensive beef roast. Thank you so much for this excellent recipe; it is now my new best way to save money on my husband’s favorite dinner!

I made this roast last week thursday. It was absolutely delicious. My husband and my kids said it was the best meal they ever had. I am making it again tonight only because last week we weren’t able to have leftovers, when everyone had left the kitchen before we had a chance to clean it up, my chocolate lab couldnt resist the smell and ate the remaining 2 lbs of roast! I was so mad, I decided to try again tonight and make sure the leftovers were put right way.

I loved the garlic flavor! It was a little bit on the dry side- I’m not sure why- but was still very good. Looking forward to trying it again perhaps with a different cut of beef. Thanks for the recipe!

The good basics is what I wish I had more of…this was just what I was looking for. I used a sirloin tip roast, not a lot of drippings but w the gravy recipe, I had just enough for 2 delicious cups. Instead of using the oven rack to cook my meat, I placed it in an oversized roasting pan w a rack in it, kept it uncovered. Turned out very well. I cut my meat deli thin w my food slicer and I know my kids will really enjoy this. Plan to use any leftovers for another meal–in a panini sandwich. Thanks!

Hi Elise,
I love your recipies. The food almost always turns out correct unless I’ve made a mistake.
I’ve moved into a new house last year and it has a convection oven. I wanted to cook a slow roast like my mother did and she did it for 24 hours because it didn’t need any care and always came out perfect. I’ve discovered that this convection oven shortens cooking time and I can’t predict when my roasts will be done. I’m serving guests in a couple days and I want it to be perfect. I have a 5 lb top round beef roast that I want to be cooked as slow as possible so that it is medium to well. Is it possible to predict when to take it out of the fridge, prep it, place it in the oven and take out of the oven at 6:30 pm for serving at 7:00 pm?

Thanks much for your help.
Rob.

My guideline for cooking with convection is to lower the temp by 25°F and reduce the cooking time by a quarter. The other thing you can do is get a leave-in meat thermometer like the one from Polder so you can keep tabs on the internal temperature of the roast. ~Elise

I doubt that any bacteria could survive after being cooked for that long. But if you want to be extra safe u can take out the roast an hour to half an hour before hand and leave it in it’s wrapper in your sink with cold water running constantly over it. This will defrost your roast but no bacteria will start growing. It’s called “speed defrosting” in the biz.

I have tried this recipe and my roast turns out dry. Since I haven’t a local butcher I usually get my meat at the local grocery store and the fat marbling in it is awful. I was told to cook the roast in a bag to seal in flavor. Will this work or are there any ideas you can offer to make my roast more tender?

You might try browning the roast first on the stovetop and then cooking it on low in a slow cooker. The trick to tenderness is “low and slow”, especially with cuts with low fat content. Or you could lower the heat in your oven a notch. The other thing with this roast beef is to slice it very thin, against the grain. That will help break up the muscle fibers and make what you are eating more tender. ~Elise

Hi Elise! Long time reader, first time commenter! I have made this roast recipe twice now and both times I have felt like a fabulous chef! I’ve bought the roast on sale, yet this method makes it taste super expensive! And I had to tell my blogger peeps about it, so I’ve linked to your website. I hope that’s fine! Thanks!

This simple recipe provided fantastic results with a mediocre cut of meat. I had used a fairly lean rump roast with barely any marbling and a small layer of fat.Thanks from our family to yours for sharing.

I made this for the first time yesterday. Turned about perfect. We had it with scalloped potatoes and mixed vegetables. I agree with a previous post that info on how to add potatoes and carrots would be helpful.

I made this tonight with a shoulder roast, I did not cook for the entire 2.5 hours on 225 degrees about 1.5 for a 2.5lb roast it turned out juicy, pink and very tender. My husband raved on its flavor. Will definetly be making this again.

Hey, great site! I’d love to do something like this someday. With this roast beef recipe why not try this next time… sliver with garlic (love it!), drench in a red wine (alcohol cuts marinade time to an 1/8th) then rub with Montreal Steak Spice, wrap in fresh Basil leafs and let sit out for a couple hours. After that remove the basil and then stuff them into the same holes as the garlic-(the basil should be limp at this time). Now wrap the roast in bacon and cook that baby! Yum, trying that tonight! Give me a holler if you’d like another teamate Elis – it’d be an honor!

Served this meal up tonight to my family, my son said it was his best roast beef ever, my daughter said we need to have it more often. This is the highest compliment coming from 2 teenagers that know everything (at least they think so). Great Recipe!

I followed this recipe to make my first roast beef ever, and it was a total success! Our rump roast was an end piece that tapered pretty dramatically, so the thin end ended up being more done than the front, but there was only a 10-degree difference between the two ends, so nothing was “overdone.” The entire roast was very tender and juicy, and my husband the carnivore loved it. Your recipes are great in that there are lots of useful tips. Many thanks!

I’ve made quite a few Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings but this recipe for Roast Beef simply did not do it for me, nor my family, nor my guests and it was our Christmas Dinner. While I won’t say it was bad, there are better recipes out there. Deciding whether to use garlic in this roast is up to you. We didn’t care for it because it took away from the ‘real taste’ of the beef. We used a 2 lb roast, roasted at 375 degrees for half an hour, and then down to 225 degrees as stated in this recipe until it was done. This recipe states a 3 to 3 1/2 pound roast will take 2-3 hours. Our roast, at 2 lbs, took 2 hours 40 minutes after the initial 30 minutes and it was barely medium. The interior of the meat was still very rare and red. While I will say the meat was juicy, it was grisly and chewy. Then again, it could have been the cut.

Elise, Thank you!! I’m looking forward to making this – this is almost exactly like my mom’s recipe but with a longer cooking time. I’m hoping to get more drippings this way. The only other difference (which I plan to keep) is my mom’s recipe calls for sticking a few sprigs of fresh basil (dried works too) in with the slivers of garlic prior to cooking. This makes for amazing drippings and gravy. Thank you so much! Michelle

Hi Elise, I have a 6 pound rump roast…..what do you think the cooking time will be for med. rare?

Hi Char, I would guess an hour longer (at the lower temp) than the instructions provided for a 3 pound roast. But note that there can be a lot of variation in the cooking time depending on the size and shape of your roast, the type of oven, etc. So, to make a roast properly you really do need to use a meat thermometer. ~Elise

I am planning on making this recipe for a party, and I wonder how many people this will serve? I have three hungry men and 4 women to feed…..do I need a bigger roast?
Thanks for the tips, it sounds like it is a great recipe, great reviews!

Note from Elise: Depends on how much people like to eat. Generally we plan on 1/3 to 1/2 pound per person.

Hi, interesting that your mom’s roast is like my mom’s was – I have been making roast beef in Mom’s tradition for over 40 years. However, having just received a convection oven I tried it in there, on the roast cycle, and even though the temperature said different, the roast was overcooked, although fairly good. I’m going back to the old slow roast method and wondered if you or anyone had this problem with convection. Tks for your great site.

This was the most tender roast I have made! My husband enjoyed it, and he’s not usually a fan (he likes his meat rare). I had it in the oven for 2 1/2 hours during the low heat and next time I will probably only have it in for 2 hours…it was pink but a little more on the well side than we usually like. I am so glad I found this recipe! Thank you!!

I just used your recipe this afternoon…. oh my… soooo yummy! It was easy, and turned out perfect. I put in 16 garlic slivers. I used your advice on turning the oven temp down in order to draw out more juices, since my rump roast was a lean one and I wanted to keep it medium rare, and it worked. While the roast was in for the first 1/2 hour at the higher temp, I boiled some whole potatoes (skin on) for 25 minutes and added some baby carrots to the salted water for the last 5-10 minutes… rubbed butter on the skins, sliced a criss-cross on the potatoes, dropped a pat of butter into each and placed them on the rack next to the roast, and put the carrots in the drip pan with some butter on them for some roasted potatoes and carrots. Good stuff. Thank you!!

Hello – for thirty years I’ve made my Mother’s roast beef recipe which called for a 3-5 lb rump, searing at 450 for 20 minutes, pouring over 1/2 cup of cider vinegar and cooking the roast at 350 for 20-30 minutes to the pound, covered. She also did the garlic slivers. My husband did not like the vinegar taste – although I really loved it. Your recipe works far better than my Mom’s! Better gravy, no burnt vinegar taste, tender meat that’s still juicy! I thought it would mess up the oven, didn’t do a thing. Hardly left anything on the rack! Tomorrow I’m trying a pork shoulder the same way. Thank you, thank you and my husband thanks you too!

Used your recipe and my roast turned out perfect almost like my grandmas home cooking. Only I rubbed in some fresh garlic paste all around and put in about 10 slits around the roast as I am a lover of fresh garlic.

Hi Stacey, was your roast pinker than what was pictured? If you want it less pink, your husband is right. Let the temp get to 150 or 155. The reason the roast had few dripping is most likely because it is a lean cut of beef. There isn’t enough fat to produce a lot of drippings.

Hi Chris – I don’t usually cook with the convection setting of my oven. This recipe calls for a standard oven, or the standard setting on a dual oven. When I do cook with convection, I lower the temperature by 25 degrees and shorten the cooking time. If I were you I would do the same. Lower the temp a bit and check your meat thermometer earlier.

What if you have a convection oven? The recipe states to put directly on the rack to produce convection, so I’m assuming this recipe calls for a standard oven. Please help, I want to make sure the temps are right for I have a convection oven.

I absolutely love your recipe collection and look forward to my Google homepage to see today’s new recipe.

I was so excited to see an easy recipe for roast beef. I attempted the recipe this past weekend. I injected the roast beef with garlic butter marinade and followed the instructions for cooking. After about 2 1/2 hours the roast was at 140. But when I cut into the meat it was very pink, is this what I should have expected? My husband said to get a less pink appearance I should have let it go to at least 150 or 155. Will the longer cooking time cause the meat to dry out? The roast had a great taste, but very little drippings. Thank you again.

Thank you so much. Was looking for the perfect rost Beef recepie for this xmas for this was the very first time I do this dish. thank you again!
I just wish i could send you some of my rost beef so you could taste it and give us a grade!
Thanks again!
Sincerely yours,
Ana C

All beef and even pork should be set out and about room temp before cooking…you eat it all the time that way out! Its safe and standard for best cooking results not to cook especially beef cold , straight from fridge…steaks are a must this way…I think you will find this online if you’re still uncomfortable. .hope this helps your concerns.

Hmm, I’m not sure where I went wrong on this one. It turned out okay, but something tells me it could have been better. I’m wondering if my oven runs hot or something. I used a 3.8 lb roast, and after 2 hours it was definitely not rare inside, but hardly any drippings. When I did the initial browning at 375 degrees, it seemed to brown it an awful lot, also. I think I need to get something to measure the temperature of my oven, and figure out how hot it’s actually running.

I just tried this recipe this evening and it was amazing!! The roast beef was tender and juicy, with just enough flavor.We are acually looking forward to leftovers! Thank you very much I have been looking for a good roast beef recipe for a while.

I want to thank you for sharing such a super duper recipe with all of us. I made this for my ahem boyfriend last weekend and it went down a treat. I was so happy to see him enjoying a meal I made without ballsing it up.